Onboard audio, radio, navigation, and video systems are very common in modern vehicles. Some onboard audio/visual systems are compatible with multiple sources, including conventional AM and FM radio signals, satellite radio signals, compact discs, DVDs, cassette tapes, digital audio formats, digital video formats, and the like.
The prior art includes an onboard vehicle system that is capable of recording and storing content that is received by a single radio tuner. The recorded content is stored in a digital format such that it can be played back at a later time (i.e., the content can be timeshifted). In such a system, the realtime audio content for a radio station is recorded simultaneously with the realtime generation of its audible signal within the passenger cabin of the vehicle. If the listener desires to hear timeshifted content, the tuner is switched from a realtime broadcasting mode to a timeshifted playback mode.
Timeshifting content received by only one radio tuner has limitations. For example, a single-tuner system cannot record one radio station in the background while playing realtime audio content of another radio station. Thus, a single-tuner system will not enable a listener to “channel surf” between two or more stations while timeshifting content on more than one station.